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LA-based firm led by Alec Gores invests in auto publisher Tweddle Group

Clinton Township-based automotive publisher Tweddle Group Inc. Tuesday announced an equity investment from Los Angeles-based firm The Gores Group LLC.

The investment group, led by Alec Gores, brother of investor and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, declined to discuss the value of the deal and how much equity it acquired.

Andrew Tweddle, CEO of the third-generation family-owned business, is expected to retain a stake in the company and remain its top executive.

Tweddle, which publishes manuals and service information for the automotive industry, generated revenue of $102 million in 2012, up from $85 million in 2011.

Alec Gores, raised in Flint, founded the investment firm in 1987 and has acquired 60 companies worldwide with combined revenues of more than $15 billion since its inception, according to the firm’s website. Currently, it has $3.4 billion in equity under active management.

Locally, the firm bought Romulus-based vehicle transporter United Road Services Inc. for $110 million in November 2007 and sold it for an undisclosed sum in 2012.

It’s also bought and sold Ventech Solutions Inc. in Flint, Applicon LLC in Ann Arbor and MAI Basic 4 in Grand Rapids.

Gores also expressed interest, but failed, in acquiring Ann Arbor-based Borders Group Inc. out of bankruptcy in 2011. A $1 billion deal for Gores to acquire auto parts chain Pep Boys also fell apart in 2012.